Partners
by Floor-Ninja
Summary: Reflections of the past clear a way for the future.


**Author:** Floor  
**Description:** _Reflections of the past clear a way for the future._  
**Timeline:** Post Episode 21/Pre Episode 19 (timeskips between present and past)  
**Characters:** Gunmax and Kirisaki  
**Rating: **T for language

* * *

"Gunmax, right?"

The Motorcycle Detective returned his attention to the small corrections officer who leaned out the window of the security booth. Having just separated from Gun Bike, Gunmax was now leaned up against the large and sturdy wall surrounding the inner complex.

"That's my name," the newest member of the Brave Police replied, his lips twitching upwards in a smirk. "Don't wear it out."

Gunmax looked across the water to where the sun was rising over the mainland. The early morning bustle of the far off city was but a faint sound from Floating Prison No.6; its remote location was the perfect place for housing criminals. He pushed himself off the wall and stepped closer to the human officer. The man quickly scribbled details onto a form before looking back up to the large, green mech looming over his post.

"Sorry, the forms are just procedure," he explained. "Your date of, uh, birth?"

"20th of April," Gunmax replied. Little over two months had passed since Gunmax had first come online. A lot had happened since then.

"That's right, you were only built this year, weren't you?" The uniformed man asked while he noted down the next detail. "Relationship to the prisoner?"

Gunmax's A.I. faltered.

There used to be a word for it - a word that had since disappeared when the relationship had been severed. But the bond had never left, not really. It was still a part of Gunmax; still fresh in his artificial mind. Those memories helped make him who he was today.

He looked away from the officer, his next words quiet: "My old partner."

* * *

_"Mr. Ishida, I'm going to have to ask you to remain calm or I will have to forcibly remove you from the building."_

_"You can't just tell me I've lost my job and expect me to stay calm! This is my livelihood!" The older gentleman complained loudly. _

_"_Mr. Ishida_-"_

_"It's that robot, isn't it?!" His voice carried down the hall for half the station to hear. "You don't need me anymore because I'm being replaced by a machine! Well soon enough, you will _all_ be replaced by soulless pieces of metal!"_

_Heavy footsteps were the only sounds to be heard as Highway Patrol officer of 25 years, Ishida Daisuke, exited the building. Once the door had slammed shut, the chatter resumed._

_"That was officer Ishida!"_

"Did they fire him?"

"I think he was let go."

"They're making job cuts, aren't they?"

"I'm starting to wonder who will be next."

"This all started when it_ got here."_

_Gunmax raised the volume on the television set._

"-yesterday we brought you reports of the Brave Police attempting to stop a giant moth over downtown Nanamagari. However, we can now confirm that the moth died naturally, meeting the end of its short lifespan just prior to reaching the city. The ancient insect-"

__"Pathetic,"_ the green unit muttered._

_"For all their acclaim, the Brave Police can't do half the job we here at Highway Patrol can." Officer Kirisaki said when he entered through the large door just behind his mechanical partner. Following the addition of Gunmax to the force, the Highway Patrol had set up a small area for the mobile unit in the garage. It was a relatively large room already, seeing as it had been built to house the over-sized motorcycles driven by many of the human officers. It was also the only inside space in the entire station where Gunmax could stand upright. In his corner sat a basic repair berth, a small supply of his own fuel and an old television set loaned to him by one of the Highway Patrol engineers. Gun Bike was never far from reach, currently resting next to the berth the green mech was now using as a seat._

_"It's a good thing you're with us, Gunmax." Kirisaki stopped in front of the television, locating the power button before turning it off. "Stick with me and you won't have to worry about becoming one of them."_

_"Yes, sir." Gunmax stood and saluted his assigned companion._

_Kirisaki raised an eyebrow at him and Gunmax quickly dropped the gesture. _

_"Whatever you say, _partner_," Gunmax corrected. He spoke the last word with affection. It had only been four days since he had arrived at the Highway Patrol; four days since he had first officially onlined in the secret factory where he had been built. Those four short days had been more than enough for a connection to grow between the new mech and the adult man. _

_"Suit up, or... whatever you do to prepare yourself. I'm going on patrol." Kirisaki sauntered his way over to his own bike and placed the helmet he had tucked beneath his arm over his head. He paused just before climbing to the seat of his giant bike, seeming to notice Gunmax's lack of movement. "Well don't just stand there!" Kirisaki smirked. "You're coming with."_

_"Oh." Gunmax's visored optics filtered a blink. He had never been on patrol before, much less seen more than a glimpse of the outside world. It was an exciting prospect and he hurried to Gun Bike's side. "I'm ready, Mr. Kirisaki."_

_"This will be your first time riding, huh?" The officer had made his way into the enclosed compartment of his bike. "Nervous?"_

_Gunmax looked down at the controls before swinging his leg over to sit on the seat. "Not at all. Riding is in my programming."_

_"Born to ride." Kirisaki gave a short laugh. "It's a start. But I bet you'll still have trouble keeping up with me." _

_The roller doors opened and sunlight poured into the dark room. Gunmax adjusted the tint of his visor appropriately just in time to see Kirisaki make a head start out towards the street._

_Gunmax started his bike to follow, edging it out past the other vehicles in the garage before speeding off to catch up with his companion._

_Outside was bright. The sun warmed the plates of metal his body was comprised of, resulting in a pleasant tickling sensation he was notified of at the back of his consciousness. As he picked up speed, cooler air washed over him, whistling past his audio receptors. His programming told him a lot about what to expect when he rode his bike, but it could never describe the feeling that he was experiencing now as the world zoomed by with hundreds of metres of road disappearing beneath his bike's tyres. _

_His programming also told him a lot about speed limits and that he was currently breaking them. But as the shape of Kirisaki's bike moved off into the distance, he found that he did not mind. After all, he should be by his partner's side._

* * *

Gunmax followed along after a short woman while curious looks from other staff were directed his way. The larger entrances of the interior complex were sizable enough that he could fit through them without any problems.

"Our facility wasn't exactly built for someone of your size," the greying lady who had introduced herself as Warden Kunihiro admitted. "But we do have areas large enough for the Brave Police if they ever needed to interrogate a prisoner. That's where I will be taking you."

The green Brave took note of the various guarded entrances that led to the cell blocks. The prison appeared to be well-staffed; officers patrolled every hall and watched from every guard tower. The warden stopped just outside of a room and gestured for Gunmax to go in. The doorway was a touch on the small side - the 5-metre-tall Brave had to duck to enter it - but the ceiling inside was high enough that he could stand. A table and chair were visible in the low light of the room.

"We will bring him to you here," Kunihiro informed him. "Please make yourself comfortable while you wait."

Left alone in the room, Gunmax now inspected the ceiling-height two-way mirror. His heat sensors notified him that the room on the other side of the glass was empty. He was grateful for the privacy. This was no interrogation, after all.

"You should let me out of that cage more often." A voice from outside of the room alerted Gunmax to the presence of his expected company, "That clown in the cell next to me won't stop clicking his finge-"

Gunmax turned just in time to see the owner of the voice enter. Surprise flashed briefly across the man's face.

"Kirisaki."

The former Highway Patrol officer frowned. "Gunmax."

* * *

_The Motorcycle Detective pulled ahead, swerving Gun Bike into the adjacent lane and riding in front of the speeding vehicle. Another Highway Patrol bike sped up to take his previous place beside the van, thus forcing it closer to the barrier. _Kirisaki._ The human officer radioed Gunmax the signal to start slowing down and the biker unit eased off the acceleration. The white van began slowing behind him and then came to an unexpected stop._

"Damn it!"_ Gunmax cursed to himself when he saw the formerly stationary van speed away into another lane, avoiding them._

_Gunmax twisted the accelerator and tore down the highway after it. It didn't take long to catch up to it again; the vehicle's top speed was nowhere near the speeds Gun Bike could reach. In an obvious attempt to avoid getting stuck in the same formation between the two bikes again, the driver of the van swerved violently across all four lanes, his frantic maneuvering threatening the other drivers on the highway._

_Gunmax needed to stop it before anybody got hurt._

BANG!

_The van skidded to the side, one of its tyres shredded. Gunmax looked back to see Kirisaki leaning out the cockpit of his bike with his gun out and still aimed at the suspect's vehicle._

_Careening into a barrier, the white vehicle narrowly missed the other cars on the road and came to an abrupt halt. _

_Gunmax slowed to a stop and dismounted Gun Bike to inspect the damaged van and arrest its occupant. With his own gun drawn, he approached the wreck just as Kirisaki pulled up beside him. _

_"And that's how you stop a suspect," his partner informed him while donning his shades and climbing down from his seat to join the larger mech._

_The suspect had been trying to open the damaged passenger door when the sight of two guns pointed in his direction stopped him in his tracks. The giant revolver Gunmax held was certainly intimidating enough that he didn't have to worry about humans misbehaving once it was aimed at them - not that he would ever shoot them with it, but they didn't know that._

_"I s-surrender!" The man threw his hands up over his head and dropped the weapon he was holding. Kirisaki pulled the driver's door open and grasped the man's jacket by the collar. The young suspect relented into the grip, allowing Kirisaki to yank him out and push him against the side of the totaled van to handcuff him. Traffic continued to flow around them._

_Gunmax holstered his gun as soon as the man was arrested. Kirisaki sat the defeated man against the roadside barrier and searched his vehicle while they waited for dispatch to pick the suspect up. Among other illegal goods found in the van were a number of weapons; they were removed, along with the rest of the items, and placed side by side on the road. The Motorcycle Detective mentally noted each one as they appeared._

_"That's the PM-9," Gunmax said, noticing the submachine gun in the human officer's grip._

_Kirisaki quirked an eyebrow and inspected the weapon. "You know your guns."_

_Once the van had been unloaded Kirisaki moved all of the confiscated weapons into a compartment in his bike. Gunmax sipped from the spare fuel canister he always carried with him. A couple of patrol cars from the Metropolitan Police Department turned up shortly after. The police officers took the suspect into their custody with little preamble. _

_"Thanks again, Officer Kirisaki. We've been after this one for a while," the female officer informed him while she placed the suspect into her car._

_Kirisaki snorted. "Don't know why he wasn't arrested sooner in that case."_

_The woman didn't bother replying as she got into her car, her colleague staying a moment longer to collect the rest of the confiscated items to use as evidence against the smuggler. When both vehicles had left Kirisaki began placing traffic cones around the accident site._

_"What a bunch of incompetent fools," he muttered while Gunmax kept watch over the flow of traffic. "Leaving us to do their dirty work and then taking credit for it."_

_"You didn't give them the rest of the evidence." The green-coloured unit considered the weapons Kirisaki had confiscated as he directed a confused elder gentleman to move his car into a different lane._

_"They've got enough. Besides, we deserve to get _something_ after all our hard work. " Kirisaki mounted his bike and signaled for Gunmax to do the same. "Now hurry up, the tow truck should be here any minute and we don't need to wait around."_

_Gunmax threw his leg over his own bike's seat and started the engine. Gun Bike roared to life beneath him and he started off down the highway again once Kirisaki had passed him. They took an off-ramp into the city and headed back towards Highway Patrol headquarters. It was then that Gunmax's sensors alerted him to something on the road ahead. He took a quick left into a small street and stopped there until he knew it had passed. He heard the sound of various construction vehicles and a patrol car zooming past the alley where he hid and didn't have to look back to know who it was._

_As the sounds of sirens faded, he backed himself out onto the main street and rode up to where Kirisaki had stopped to wait for him._

_"You just missed the Brave Police," Kirisaki informed him as they started off again, "But I take it that was your intention."_

_Gunmax only kept driving, never taking his optics off of the road ahead._

* * *

"Why did you come here?" Former Highway Patrol Officer Kirisaki grumbled as he was directed by two armed guards to sit at the table, his arms still cuffed behind his back. "To taunt me?"

"To tell you what really happened." Gunmax waited til the guards had left the room and the door had closed before continuing, "I never sold you out, Kirisaki. I wanted you to-"

"You don't have to explain." Kirisaki cut him off and sighed heavily, "I made a mistake, I know that now."

"I'm not looking for an apology." Gunmax crossed his arms.

The man shot him a glare. "I'm not apologising."

Gunmax's stern expression faltered.

"Is that all you really came all this way for?" Kirisaki jeered. "Did you think this would fix things between us?"

The green Brave opened his mouth to respond but promptly shut it. He wasn't sure what kind of result he had been hoping for, only that he didn't like where they had left things. A talk had been long overdue.

"It doesn't change a thing. You still ran back to the police after that, didn't you? You turned your back on me."

Gunmax stiffened. "No, _you_ turned your back on _me_!" He shouted, allowing his expression to soften a touch when he added: "I trusted you."

"Didn't I tell you, Gunmax? You can't rely on anyone." Kirisaki turned his head away. "You made it clear which side you'd always be on. I guess it makes sense though; you will always be a tool for them. You were programmed that way."

* * *

_"Gunmax!"_

_Optics brightened once the Motorcycle Detective snapped back to reality. He looked down at the man who had just been calling his name._

_"Are you with me?" Kirisaki laughed, "Have a nice daydream?"_

_Gunmax stood next to his berth in the garage. He had just withdrawn into his consciousness when Kirisaki had walked in. "Could be better," he admitted while shifting his weight._

_"Not letting those old cowboy films I showed you yesterday get to your head, are ya?" The sandy brown-haired man joked, "I've never seen someone so enthralled by a bunch of Americans."_

_Gunmax smirked and pointed his index finger towards the human officer. "I've got it under control, _**partner**._" _

_Kirisaki grunted and scratched at his facial hair. "So I see."_

_When the man turned to walk towards weapons storage, Gunmax's smile faded. He pressed his lips together in quiet contemplation and wondered whether it was a good idea to tell his partner what was on his mind. They had been working together for a number of weeks now and it wasn't like Gunmax had any other friends to discuss it with. "There's this file in my programming..." _

_Kirisaki stopped._

_Gunmax cycled a vent before continuing: "Max Cannon."_

_The room was eerily silent when Kirisaki finally looked over his shoulder, his expression unreadable. He stared at Gunmax for a long while, then breathed a sigh._

_Gunmax's face contorted into something perplexed. "You knew?"_

_Kirisaki turned and wandered back towards Gunmax to lean against the mech's repair berth. "It was part of the contract they made us sign," he admitted._

_The biker mech frowned. Why hadn't he been told about this? "What did they make you agree to?"_

_The Highway Patrol officer folded his arms over his chest. "If they ever needed you, the Brave Police had the right to temporarily induct you into their ranks."_

_"So Max Cannon is-"_

_"It's a weapon, Gunmax." Kirisaki stated plainly. "They built you as a weapon."_

_Gunmax froze. He had his suspicions, but... for them to be confirmed? Slumping down onto the berth, he let his artificial mind process what he had just been told. Even though he knew he was no human, having another glaringly obvious reminder that he would always be a machine to be used by his creators hurt something deep within him. Riding Gun Bike down the open highway, he felt free; like he actually had the ability to make decisions for himself, to be in control of his own life. Out there, he was _alive._ Now they wanted to take that away from him - his freedom, his power, his_ life_. Those things were all for these humans to own whenever they deemed it necessary._

_"So now that you know the truth, what are you going to do about it?" Kirisaki asked him, stepping forward to glance over his shoulder at Gunmax._

_The Motorcycle Detective felt anger bubble within his Super A.I. "I won't let it happen. I'm not just some tool for them to use!"_

_Kirisaki grunted in agreement. "You can't rely on anyone, Gunmax. Remember that."_

_He was right. Sometimes it felt like the whole world was against them. Even the other Highway Patrol employees made trouble for them. Gunmax felt lucky to have Kirisaki; the older man looked out for him. He told him what the other officers would say about him behind his back. They were not to be trusted._

_The uniformed man continued forward until he reached the weapons locker. Inspecting a couple, he removed them and carried them over to his bike. "You gonna be alright? I've got patrol."_

_Gunmax nodded. Taking Gun Bike for a spin seemed ideal right about now; it would be a nice escape from his thoughts. He straightened to a stand to walk towards his bike._

_"Where do you think you're going?" Kirisaki asked, a little snappily._

_Gunmax stopped and pointed at Gun Bike. "I thought-"_

_"Stay here."_

_As the roller doors opened, a cool evening breeze freshened the stale air of the garage._

_He watched Kirisaki leave without him for the third time that week._

* * *

Gunmax leaned his back against the wall, watching his former friend with visored optics from beneath the sweep of his cap. The man pulled at his cuffs, his own brow furrowing when he attempted to stretch his restrained arms. He looked very much like he would rather be in his cell.

"Things are different now," the green Brave told him. "I've joined the Brave Police. The people I work for, they're not as bad as we thought."

Kirisaki snorted and finally turned to look at him. "Those same people are the ones who dropped the attempted murder charges. If they considered your life equal to a human's, I would be locked up a whole lot longer."

Gunmax only frowned. Just then, a knock was heard on the door.

He straightened upright to acknowledge the visitor.

"Excuse me. Mr. Gunmax?" A young officer peeked through the gap in the large automatic door. "Sir, you have a visitor."

Gunmax paused. He wasn't expecting anyone. _Maybe..._

"I'll be back," he told Kirisaki.

"Please, go ahead. Take your time." The older man's voice was sarcastic. "I'm not going anywhere."

Exiting the interrogation room, Gunmax followed the officer who had come to collect him outside to the front gates. It wasn't too surprising to see the Brave Detective himself standing there; Deckerd was always keeping an eye on him. He had probably taken the ferry there.

"Did the ninja tell you where to find me?" Gunmax rested a hand on his hip armour as he walked up to greet the blue Brave.

Deckerd turned to him, smiling his concerned smile. "He gave me a couple of hints."

Gunmax looked around to see if the patrol car had brought company. "The kid?" He asked. Yuuta and Deckerd were as close as two friends could be; it was seldom he would see one without the other.

"At school," Deckerd answered, his smile fading. "Gunmax... Why are you here?"

The Motorcycle Detective scoffed. "Why do you think I'm here?"

Deckerd leveled a stern look at him. "He doesn't deserve your compassion."

"He was my _partner,_" Gunmax said in his defense. Deckerd knew all about his past with Kirisaki, surely he would understand.

"He tried to_ kill _you!" Deckerd argued.

The green Brave sighed. Deckerd was right, but there was more to it than that. "I don't like it any more than you do, trust me on that. But Kirisaki is always going to be a big part of my life."

"I'm not asking you to forget him." Deckerd's expression softened. "I'm telling you that it's okay to move on."

"_Move on..._" Gunmax repeated. Moving on had always seemed like an impossibility - he would never recover as long as he still had these memories. But he had learned to live with them... Perhaps he could learn to live without Kirisaki.

"You have other friends now, Gunmax. We are here for you." Deckerd placed a hand on his shoulder. "_I'm_ here for you."

Gunmax reacted the way he always did when _'boy scout'_ got too sentimental; he brushed it off. "I don't need _coddling_."

"I won't leave you, Gunmax," Deckerd stated with no trace of uncertainty in his voice.

"Heh. How can you be so sure?" Abandonment was something Gunmax had come to expect from his peers. What made Deckerd so special?

Deckerd moved to touch his arm in a gesture of comfort but appeared to notice the way Gunmax warily eyed the held-out limb. "I promise you." He settled on a hand shake, "I'm not going anywhere."

This time, it was Gunmax who smiled. Although he had trouble bringing himself to believe that their partnership wouldn't come to an abrupt end, he appreciated Deckerd's effort. It was nice to feel included.

"I should go." Gunmax gestured over his shoulder back to the main building. "They'll be waiting for me."

"How long will you be?" The Brave Detective asked him.

"Not long."

Deckerd hesitated. "I'll wait."

Gunmax gave a short laugh. "You sure? I'll just be heading back to the precinct after this."

Deckerd nodded and smiled. "I'll wait," he confirmed.

* * *

"Wait here."_ That's what Kirisaki had told him. _

_That had been over an hour ago and there was still no sign of the man._

_Sighing, Gunmax dismounted Gun Bike. The sun had since set, its light now replaced by the artificial glow of the city's nightlife. Humans seemed to make a habit of inventing substitutes. _

_Not that they would ever be appreciated as much as the real thing._

_..._

_Gunmax imagined a tumbleweed rolling in the distance._

_..._

_His partner was sure taking his time._

_The green mech knew what Kirisaki was doing. He knew, but he pretended not to; acted like he didn't notice Kirisaki remove confiscated vehicles from their storage just before they went 'mysteriously missing'; claimed to have no idea what people were talking about when they asked him if he had seen anything suspicious. It had meant gaining more than a few accusatory looks, but it was better than the truth._

_Even Gunmax had not been ready for the truth. It was still hard for him to believe Kirisaki would betray the Highway Patrol like that. _

_But the hardest thing to swallow was that he had lied to Gunmax about it. Blatantly. Several times. And it hurt to realise how easily he had believed those lies- how much he _wanted _to believe Kirisaki was a good man and would eventually turn himself in... and how little he really knew his best and only friend._

_Kirisaki was always on edge of late, a natural result of having to keep his guard up now that people were catching onto his illegal dealings. It was hard to have a normal conversation with the man let alone suggest he should confess to his crimes._

_Without warning a motorcycle raced past where Gunmax stood waiting on the side of the road. _Ten kilometres an hour over the speed limit._ Gunmax jumped on Gun Bike to pursue them when a dozen more bikes passed him. It was one of the local gangs, by the looks of it._

_He briefly reconsidered his first instinct. He had been told to wait. What if this was one of the gangs Kirisaki had been supplying to?_

_Cursing to himself, he revved Gun Bike's engine and sped after them, its siren blaring._

_The all but empty roads made catching up an easy task, but some of the humans with larger bikes had already zoomed ahead. With an easy surrender looking unlikely, Gunmax retrieved his weapon. He weaved between the smaller bikes, focusing on taking out some of the bigger vehicles first. Holding Gun Bike steady, he aimed his revolver at the furthest bike's back tyre and cocked back the hammer. It clicked into place._

_He pulled the trigger._

_A loud concussive sound followed by the screeching of rubber and metal against asphalt were evidence enough that it had been a direct hit. The red bike tipped, leaving gouges in the pavement as it slid to a stop. Fuel spilled onto the road._

_Gunmax holstered his weapon and stopped next to it just as flames started to rise from the wreckage. The sole occupant evacuated the cockpit and jumped onto a waiting bike._

_"Damn it!" He swore and was about to speed off after them when another bike pulled up beside him. A Highway Patrol bike. Kirisaki's bike._

_"Don't follow me! I'll go after them!" Kirisaki's voice rang loud and clear through Gunmax's radio._

_"But Mr. Kirisaki-!"_

_"Shut up! Just do as I say!"_

_As quickly as he had arrived, Kirisaki was off and Gunmax was left to once again do exactly what he had been told to..._

_And he hated himself for it._

* * *

When Gunmax returned to the make-shift interrogation room, Kirisaki had moved to stand in front of the mirror on the far wall. The Motorcycle Detective was confronted with his former partner's reflection staring back at him. The door closed behind him and he stepped forward.

"Did your leash need tightening?" Kirisaki's smirk was obvious.

Gunmax snorted.

That seemed to get Kirisaki's attention. The man turned to him, appearing slightly shocked.

Though the Brave was unsure of where this sudden courage to face his old friend had come from, he decided to roll with it. "_Pathetic_."

The prisoner - Kirisaki - blinked.

"If you're trying to upset me, it won't work. I've heard it all, Kirisaki."

Kirisaki managed a smile, fake as it was. "This isn't like you at all."

"Yeah?" Gunmax laughed. "Well maybe I've changed."

The man scoffed. "Change isn't necessarily a good thing."

He was right. But Gunmax had changed a long time ago and as much as he wanted to hold onto those last remnants of his former-self, it wasn't him anymore. He realised, belatedly, that this was moving on. He was different, but he wasn't weaker for it. He had strong friends who supported him. He didn't need-

"I don't need you," Gunmax stated, unable to help the self-satisfied grin that made its way onto his face.

Kirisaki's brow furrowed, his smile now that of disbelief. "_What?_"

The green Brave turned on his heel and walked straight back out the door. "**Adios,** _**asshole**_."

As Gunmax strode through the prison, his A.I. reeled with the weight of what he'd just done. His decision would effect his life dramatically, but he had no regrets. That was no longer a life he wanted to live.

He headed for the ferry dock, flicking a two-fingered salute at the warden as he exited the front gate.

After all, he should be by his partner's side.


End file.
